


On Good Terms

by CirrusGrey



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Resurrection Spoilers, SPX spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:18:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirrusGrey/pseuds/CirrusGrey
Summary: After Devastation Day, Vex and Saracen go back to their usual adventuresome lives. But the Night of Knives brings out hidden feelings, and now Vex must deal with the consequences.





	On Good Terms

_“I’ll try to find Rue and Vex, but the last I heard they weren't on good terms.” Resurrection, pg. 259_

_~~~~~_

It had all been going so well.

Against all odds, they had beaten Darquesse. They had shut down the Accelerator and gotten rid of Ravel into the bargain. Many people had died, but the world had been saved, and Dexter Vex himself had managed to survive a particularly violent de-Remnant-ification thanks to Fletcher’s teleporting skills and the tireless work of the Sanctuary doctors. Apparently. He didn't remember anything until a few days later, when he had woken up to see Saracen Rue’s worried face hovering over his hospital bed.

Over the next few weeks Saracen and Vex had stuck together, helping to pull the city back from the brink of total collapse and re-establish some sort of order. And then they had said their goodbyes to the people of Roarhaven, and set off into the world to have adventures. Together.

They had always been close, keeping in contact after the war with Mevolent, and they had grown closer still after the whole God Killers fiasco. But now they were spending every day together, traveling the  world, saving lives, being heroes. Vex didn't want to admit it, what with the recently averted apocalypse and the death and destruction and all, but he was enjoying himself more than he had in years, because he was spending more time with Saracen then he had in years.

And then it all went wrong.

~~~~~

It was 1:00 am, about three years after Devastation Day. The buzzing of his cellphone woke Vex, and he blearily checked the message. New alert on the Global Link.... He put the phone away, turned over to fall back to sleep. Then his eyes flew open.

New alert on the Global Link!

He scrambled to grab his phone again, hurriedly opening the message.

_Worldwide tragedy.... Multiple murder.... Top Sensitives killed...._

Vex froze.

_Sensitives._

Before he knew what he was doing, Vex was out of bed, out of the room, running down the quiet hotel corridor, kicking open the door at the end.

“Saracen!”

Saracen Rue was hunched over on his bed, staring at his phone. He looked up. “Dexter. You saw - ?”

He was cut off as Vex rushed over to him, wrapping him up in a crushing bear hug.

“Thank God you're all right!” he gasped.

Saracen tried to push him off. “Wha - ? Dexter, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not a Sensitive! But did you see? Finb-”

Vex cut him off without meaning to. “Thank God!” he said again, not even aware he was saying it. He gripped the other man's shoulders tightly, keeping him close. And then he kissed Saracen.

He jerked back as soon as he realized what he was doing. Saracen stared at him, bewildered. “Dexter - what - ?”

“I -”

Saracen’s phone rang. He hesitated and gave Vex an odd look before answering.

“Skulduggery. I heard - he's here with me. No, I'm - Yes. For God's sake, I'm _not_ a Sensitive! Okay. Yes. Yes. I will. Stay safe.”

He hung up and looked at Vex. “The Supreme Mage has requested that we return to Ireland to show solidarity with our countrymen. Skulduggery thinks it's a stupid idea but that we should go back anyway.”

Vex just nodded. He didn’t know what to say after kissing Saracen. He didn’t know what to say about any of this.

Saracen frowned at him. “You okay?”

Vex nodded again, then cleared his throat. “Yeah… yeah. I should probably go pack, if we're leaving in the morning.”

Saracen looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated, and nodded too. “That's probably a good idea. I'll see you in the morning.”

Vex left.

~~~~~

They didn't talk about it.

Vex thought Saracen would bring up the kiss the following morning, but he didn't. Vex didn't blame him. He didn’t particularly want to have that conversation either.

They returned to Ireland, met with friends, passed on their condolences, and went to the funerals. They didn't talk about it. They barely talked at all.

Vex was aware of the staring, of the odd looks Saracen threw his way. He tried to pretend everything was normal, but there was no escaping the fact that they were growing distant. There was no escaping the growing tension in the air.

Vex didn't know how much longer he could take it.

 ~~~~~

“So where are you two off to next?”

It was Clarabelle who asked the question, sweet, innocent Clarabelle who didn't realize that if two men are sitting next to each other in a pub for hours on end without speaking, it means something has broken between them.

Saracen spoke. “Well, we haven't really decided yet....”

“Actually, I was thinking I might go off on my own for a bit,” Vex said. He felt Saracen stiffen in surprise next to him, but didn't look over. “It's been awhile since I've had a lot of time to myself.”

“Cool,” said Clarabelle dreamily. “I was thinking I might go to Hogwarts.”

Vex waited for Saracen to crack a joke, but the other man stayed silent, so Vex tried to find words somewhere. “Oh… really? That's… interesting.”

Clarabelle nodded. “I think I need to give Scapy and Gerald some time alone. I think they would really like that. Scapy started laughing with joy when I told him I was planning to go! At least, I _think_ he was laughing with joy….”

She started walking to the other end of the bar, absent-mindedly flipping over any empty glasses she came across. Vex watched her go with a raised eyebrow, then turned back to Saracen. He still hadn't moved or spoke, and his eyes were fixed on the bar in front of him.

“Odd girl,” Vex tried, hoping to start a normal conversation.

Saracen didn't let him. “Are you really thinking of heading off on your own?” he asked, his voice deceptively casual.

Vex swallowed thickly. _No,_ he wanted to say. He wanted to grab Saracen by the shoulders, pull him close, and whisper in his ear. _No, I'm not leaving. I never want to leave you. I want to stay with you forever, because you're my best friend and I love you._ But that was the problem, wasn't it? That was why he couldn't stay.

“Uh… yeah. I just think it's for the best, you know. We've been spending so much time together in the last couple years, I think we've both lost track of our own lives…. There's some things I should be getting to....” Lies. All lies, and he was pretty sure Saracen knew they were lies, but Vex just couldn't stand the awkward silences and the distance anymore.

Saracen was silent for a minute, staring at the bar. Then he looked up and gave Vex a smile that was almost convincing. “I think you're right,” he said, and Vex tried to ignore the fact that his heart had just shattered into a million pieces. It wasn't what he had wanted to hear. _God,_ he hadn't wanted to hear that at all. But he had expected to hear it, so he returned Saracen’s almost-convincing smile with one of his own.

“Great!” he said. “I'm glad you understand.”

There was an awkward moment when neither could meet the other's eyes. Saracen took a deep breath to say something, but Vex suddenly realized that he just couldn't hear it. He couldn't spend one more minute with this tension and hesitancy.

Vex drained the rest of his drink and spoke before Saracen could. “I should actually be going,” he said. “I want to pack tonight, be ready to leave in the morning. You know how it is....”

Saracen gave a grimace-like smile. “Definitely. It's probably for the best. See you around,” and then he turned back to his drink.

“Right,” said Vex. He put some money on the counter to pay for the drink, then turned and walked toward the door. He waved to Clarabelle behind the bar, but she was too busy staring at the bubbles in a customer's beer to notice. He did not look back at Saracen. He made a point of not looking back at Saracen. And then he was out the door and gone.

They hadn't spoken since.

 ~~~~~

It had been two years. Two of the worst years in his life. Two years of lonely travel, two years of regrets.

 _Two years of rue,_ he thought bitterly. Ironic that a single capitalization would turn it into a lie.

And now he was sitting in a small café with a name he thought was stupid, in a small town whose name he didn't know, waiting for a man whose name he hadn't spoken for two years. For two _goddamn_ years.

And who was late. As usual.

“Dexter.”

He jumped. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard the other man approach.

“Saracen.” He hoped his voice hadn't trembled too much.

Saracen took the chair opposite him. “It's good to see you,” he said. “I wasn't -” he was interrupted by the server. He made a cursory order, then turned back to Vex. “I wasn't sure if you would actually come.”

“Of course I did,” Vex said, frowning. “I know things haven't… haven't been the best between us, but you're still my friend. You always will be.”

Saracen smiled. “As you will always be mine.”

“I assume you contacted me because you spoke to Skulduggery?”

“Yes. Because of the new apocalypse.” The server brought over his coffee. He took a sip and gasped, put it down hurriedly. “Too hot,” he explained with a grin.

Vex gave a small smile of his own and took a sip of his coffee. He waited for Saracen to continue.

“The thing is.... Well, with the end of the world coming - again - I don't want to.... I don't want to face this without the people who are close to me. Without you.”

Saracen was hesitant. That was so unusual that Vex felt moved to comfort him, however feebly.

“We'll get through this,” he said. “We took down Mevolent, we took down Darquesse, we've taken down Abyssinia before, we can do it again.”

“It's just… how much did Skulduggery tell you? About Valkyrie’s - ?”

“Valkyrie’s vision? Not much, just that she had one, and that it showed the end of the world. Again.”

“So he didn't tell you that there was a part where.... A part that showed my death?”

“NO!”

It should have been a shout but it came out a fierce whisper. Vex was aware that he had gone white as a sheet and was shaking his head quickly. “Nononono,” he said. “That can't be. That _won't_ be. The Darquesse visions didn't come true, right? This one won't either. It can't.”

“Dexter!” Saracen leaned forward. “Hey, calm down! I'm still alive, see?I don't plan on dying. But if I do… I don't want to die knowing things weren't right between us. That's all this is. Calm down, okay?”

“O- Okay.” Vex took a few deep breaths. He tried to lift his coffee to take a sip, but his hand was shaking too much. He put the coffee down.

“I want things to be okay between us too,” he said. He wanted it more than anything, but he didn't say that. “I just don't know how we can do that. We can't just pretend the last two years didn't happen.”

“Why not?”

Vex stared. “Why - why not? Because of everything that happened! Because we haven't spoken in two years! Because I _kissed_ you!” _Shit._ No avoiding it now. “Because of _that,_ Saracen _._ Because that changes things.”

“Why? Why does it have to? It's just something that happened, something easily passed over. Hell, I didn't even realize it was bothering you until after you left.”

“You _what?”_

“Didn't realize it was bothering you. I thought you were just quiet because you were grieving. You really caught me by surprise when you said you wanted to leave. I thought we were good.”

Vex blinked, struggling to match what he was hearing with what he remembered. “I was only quiet because you were avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you? I was just trying to give you some space. You looked like you needed it.”

“No, you went distant first. I remember, after I kissed you, you froze up and started glaring at me.”

“Staring isn't glaring. I was surprised, Dexter. You can't blame me for that. And afterward you went quiet and went to go pack, and you stayed quiet for weeks. I thought we were good, but then you said that stuff in the bar and - I froze. _That's_ when I realized there was something more than grief going on. That's the first time I realized there was something wrong. But you needed to leave, so I let you. And I've been trying to give you all the space you need for years now, but we're running out of time, and I'm sorry if I'm pushing too fast, but I want to be able to talk to you again. So can we just forget anything ever happened?”

 _Yes. Please._ “No. We can't. I'm sorry, but I still don't understand. This whole time I've been thinking you're mad at me for kissing you. Now you say you don't even care?”

“Don't care? No, Dexter, of course I care. More than you think, apparently. _I've_ spent the last few years thinking you were mad because I care _too_ much. But I know that a kiss is just a kiss. I would be a fool to expect more than that.”

“Expect more?” Wait wait wait. “You - you _want_ more?”

Saracen’s brow furrowed. “Yes. I thought that's why you left, because you didn't feel the same and felt pressured to give more than you were comfortable with. If I had known it was because you thought _I_ was mad, I wouldn't have let you go.”

“ _I_ don't feel the same? _I_ don't? Where the _fuck_ are you getting that from, Saracen? I left because _you_ didn't feel the same, because you were so bothered by one little kiss that you couldn't even look me in the eyes for _weeks_!” he was shouting. Thankfully, they were the only patrons of the café that afternoon. The poor server had beat a hasty retreat to the back room.

Saracen’s mouth was hanging open. “Dexter.... If I had known.... Hell, if Skulduggery hadn't called I would have probably kissed you back in that hotel room immediately.”

“So you're saying all I had to do to avoid these last two years - two years of misery - was to grab you by the shoulders and pull you into a passionate kiss, declaring my never-dying love for you?” His voice was quieter now, but no less intense.

Saracen smiled sadly. “Or, I suppose, I could have done the same. I feel like an idiot now, by the way.”

Vex chuckled, losing the passion his voice had held before. “Yeah. Me too.” He went to take a sip of coffee, but Saracen held up a hand.

“That's cold.”

“How do you know?”

Saracen grinned and tapped his nose. Vex rolled his eyes. “You're _so_ annoying sometimes.” But he didn't try the coffee.

“Soooo……” Saracen said, _way_ too innocently. “We might die in the next couple years.”

Vex burst out laughing. “I don't think that line really works unless it's an immanent danger sort of situation, Saracen.”

“Ah, come on. Why not? It's a good line, it's the truth, and we have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

“I'm not saying no.” Saracen grinned. “But I think I'd like to just talk for a bit first. It's been… awhile. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Saracen sobered. “That's true. But first things first.” He stood and leaned over the table, taking care not to spill the coffee cups, and grabbed Vex by the shoulders. Vex rose to meet him, eyes drifting shut. Their lips met in a surprisingly gentle kiss. After a moment, Saracen pulled back to rest his forehead against Vex’s.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

They broke contact and sat back down, exchanging slightly sheepish grins. Neither were used to such displays of raw emotion. It took a moment before they could speak. And then....

“So,” Vex said, as casually as if it had been only two days, and not two years, since they had last seen each other. “What have you been up too?”


End file.
